The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator.
In general, refrigerators are home appliances for storing foods at a low temperature in a storage space covered by a refrigerator door. That is, refrigerators cool the inside of the storage space using cool air generated by heat-exchanging with a refrigerant circulating according to a refrigeration cycle to store foods in an optimum state.
With the change in dietary life and the trends of higher grade of living, large and multifunctional refrigerators have been introduced, and have been developed in various structures for user's convenience.
For example, a refrigerating compartment is increased in capacity and is defined above a freezing compartment to improve user's convenience. There is a bottom freezer type refrigerator in which a refrigerating compartment is opened or closed by a pair of doors. Hereinafter, the bottom freezer type refrigerator will be described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating the inside of a refrigerating compartment of a refrigerator according to a related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, the inside of a refrigerator is partitioned by a barrier 11 to define a refrigerating compartment 1 and a freezing compartment (not shown). Also, a plurality of shelves 20 for storing various foods are provided inside the refrigerating compartment 1. A cool air duct 30 for uniformly supplying cool air is disposed in a center of the inside of the refrigerating compartment 1. A plurality of cooling air discharge holes 31 are defined in the cool air duct 30. Thus, the inside of the refrigerator may be uniformly cooled by the plurality of cool air discharge holes 31.
Here, each of the shelves 20 may be a cantilever type shelf. In the cantilever type shelf, a rear end thereof is fixed and supported inside the refrigerator, and the shelf is detachably disposed. Thus, the cantilever type shelf may be mounted on various heights. Also, the shelves 20 may be disposed on both left and right sides of an inner space of the refrigerator, respectively. In addition, the left and right shelves 20 may be disposed at different heights to create various inner spaces in the refrigerating compartment 1 according to the arrangement of the shelves 20.
To mount the shelves 20, a first shelf mounting member 41 is disposed on a central portion of the cool air duct 30, and second shelf mounting members 42 are disposed on both left and right ends of a rear wall of the refrigerating compartment 1. Each of the first shelf mounting member 41 and the second shelf mounting members 42 may be formed of a steel material. Also, the first shelf mounting member 41 and the second shelf mounting members 42 are vertically disposed. Also, a plurality of mounting grooves 43 are vertically defined with a predetermined distance in the mounting members 41 and 42 so that the shelves 20 are mounted at desired heights.
Thus, the shelf 20 has one side fixed to one of the second shelves mounting members 42 disposed on the rear wall of the refrigerating compartment 1 and the other side fixed to the first shelf mounting member 41 disposed on the central portion of the cool air duct 30. A user may attach or detach the shelves 20 to mount the shelves 20 at desired heights.
However, the refrigerator having the above-described structure has the following limitations.
When the shelf 20 is fixed to both left and right sides of the refrigerating compartment 1, a rear end of the shelf 20 may be fixed. Here, since the rear end of the cantilever type shelf 20 is fixed to the first shelf mounting member 41 and the second shelf mounting members 42, the shelf 20 may be damaged in a case where heavy food is disposed on a front portion of the shelf 20.
Also, to fix the shelf 20, the first shelf mounting member 41 and the second shelf mounting members 42 should be provided. Here, the second shelf mounting members 42 should be mounted in an inner case defined in the refrigerating compartment 1. To mount the second shelf mounting members 42 in the inner case 50, a separate fixing structure or fixing member should be provided. Also, a structure for preventing an insulation material from leaking should be additionally provided. Thus, the whole structure of the refrigerator 1 may be relatively complicated.
Also, in the state where the rear end of the shelf 20 is fixed, it may be difficult to stably withdraw the shelf 20, or a separate component for withdrawing the shelf 20 should be additionally provided.